Principal Engineer, Network Security

Your Impact

The Principal Network Security Engineer is a senior technical authority accountable for shaping the future of the organization's network security. Operating at a director level without people management responsibilities, this role provides deep technical leadership and strategic vision across all aspects of network security including remote connectivity, firewall architecture, segmentation strategies, and cloud network protection.

The ideal candidate will lead by influence, partnering with cross-functional teams to build secure, scalable, and reliable network security services that support enterprise needs across associates, providers, and customers. This individual will translate high-level security strategy into executable architecture and engineering outcomes, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, operational excellence, and user experience.

What You Will Do

• Serve as the primary technical authority for all things network security, establishing a multi-year roadmap for technologies like firewalls, VPNs, remote access, network segmentation, and cloud-native networking
• Develop and execute a comprehensive network security architecture strategy aligned to organizational security and IT goals
• Translate leadership's strategic vision into technical design patterns, repeatable implementations, and scalable systems
• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of secure network architectures across on-prem, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments
• Own the network security design patterns used across the enterprise, ensuring interoperability, visibility, and performance without compromising security
• Engineer for resilience and high availability with a strong emphasis on maintainability and observability
• Collaborate with Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) teams to ensure network controls meet or exceed regulatory and internal compliance expectations
• Contribute to the development of network security standards, policies, and control frameworks aligned to NIST, ISO, and PCI
• Ensure all network security solutions are operationally sound, scalable, and built with minimal user friction
• Partner with Security Operations and Infrastructure teams to ensure smooth handoffs, clear runbooks, and supportable designs
• Drive adoption of automation and orchestration in network security service delivery
• Collaborate deeply with Security Architecture, Cloud Engineering, IT Infrastructure, and Application Security teams to ensure security-by-design
• Lead through influence by guiding and mentoring engineers, architects, and cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment and decision-making on strategic technical priorities related to network security
• Act as a role model and mentor to other security engineers, driving a culture of engineering excellence, curiosity, and learning
• Guide peer teams and rising engineers in mastering complex technical concepts, tools, and secure design practices
• Stay ahead of industry trends in software-defined networking (SDN), zero trust networking, edge computing, and cloud-native firewalls
• Lead research and evaluation of new network security technologies and make informed decisions on their adoption and deployment

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field or equivalent experience
• 10 or more years of progressive experience in network engineering or network security, including at least 3 to 5 years in a senior or principal-level technical role
• Proven expertise in designing and deploying enterprise-class firewalls such as Palo Alto or Fortinet, VPNs, segmentation strategies, and cloud-native security in AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Experience with network protocols, secure routing, SD-WAN, DNS and DHCP security, NAC, and micro or macro segmentation models
• Hands-on familiarity with network automation and infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform or Ansible
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, drive technical strategy, and mentor cross-functional engineering teams
• Strong understanding of regulatory frameworks such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001, and PCI-DSS and how they apply to network infrastructure
• Exceptional communication, critical thinking, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to align technical solutions with business objectives
• Ability to work independently while navigating complex cross-functional environments

• Industry certifications such as CISSP, CCNP Security, PCNSE, or equivalent